Eschers biography

A
Maurits Cornelis Escher, 17 June 1898 27 March 1972), usually referred to as M. C.
Escher, was a Dutch graphic artist. He is known for his often mathematically inspired
woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. These feature seemingly impossible
constructions, explorations of infinity, architecture, and tessellations.
B
Maurits Cornelis[2] was born in Leeuwarden, Friesland, in a house that forms part of the
Princessehof Ceramics Museum today. He was the youngest son of civil engineer George
Arnold Escher and his second wife, Sara Gleichman. In 1903, the family moved to
Arnhem, where he attended primary school and secondary school until 1918.
C
He was a sickly child, and was placed in a special school at the age of seven and failed
the second grade. Although he excelled at drawing, his grades were generally poor. He
also took carpentry and piano lessons until he was thirteen years old. In 1919, Escher
attended the Haarlem School of Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem. He briefly
studied architecture, but he failed a number of subjects (partly due to a persistent skin
infection) and switched to decorative arts.[3] He studied under Samuel Jessurun de
Mesquita, with whom he remained friends for years. In 1922, Escher left the school after
having gained experience in drawing and making woodcuts.
D
In 1922, an important year of his life, Escher traveled through Italy (Florence, San
Gimignano, Volterra, Siena, Ravello) and Spain (Madrid, Toledo, Granada). He was
impressed by the Italian countryside and by the Alhambra, a fourteenth-century Moorish
castle in Granada. The intricate decorative designs at Alhambra, which were based on
geometrical symmetries featuring interlocking repetitive patterns sculpted into the stone
walls and ceilings, were a powerful influence on Escher's works.[4] He returned to Italy
regularly in the following years.
E
Escher, who had been very fond of and inspired by the landscapes in Italy, was decidedly
unhappy in Switzerland. In 1937, the family moved again, to Uccle, a suburb of Brussels,
Belgium. World War II forced them to move in January 1941, this time to Baarn,
Netherlands, where Escher lived until 1970. Most of Escher's better-known works date
from this period. The sometimes cloudy, cold and wet weather of the Netherlands allowed
him to focus intently on his work. For a time after undergoing surgery, 1962 was the only
period in which Escher did not work on new pieces.

1 Whats the following information related to? Ask your partners and find out!
1 1898
What happened in 1898?
2 Princessehof Ceramics Museum
Was Princessehof Ceramics Museum important in his life?
3 Samuel Jessurun
4 Italian countryside
5 World War II
6 1922
7 Switzerland
8 Mathematic
9 Baarn
10 sick